ISSN 2664-4169 (Print) & ISSN 2664-7923 (Online) South Asian Research Journal of Biology and Applied Biosciences Abbreviated Key Title: South Asian Res J Bio Appl Biosci | Volume-1 | Issue-4| Dec-2019 | DOI: 10.36346/sarjbab.2019.v01i04.002 Original Research Article Exploitation and Sustainable Management of the Biodiversity of the Ngaoundéré Cliff (Adamawa-Cameroon) Nyasiri Jonathan1*, Tchobsala2, Ibrahima Adamou1, Dongock Nguemo Delphine1 1University of Ngaoundéré, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences P.O. Box 454, Ngaoundéré 2University of Maroua, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biological Sciences P.O. Box 814, Maroua Laboratory of Biodiversity and Sustainable Development *Corresponding Author Dr. Nyasiri Jonathan Article History Received: 02.12.2019 Accepted: 09.12.2019 Published: 30.12.2019 Abstract: A study was conducted on the exploitation of natural resources and the sustainable management of the vegetation of the Ngaoundéré cliff. Structured and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 350 people, 50 per village. The data obtained were supplemented by direct field observations. Data analysis using Excel, STATGRAPHICS Plus 5.0 and XLSTAT showed that farmers (88.93%), breeders (80.07%), craftsmen (49.29%), hunters (28.93%) are the main operators of the resources of the cliff. The products exploited are involved in food (55.28%), medicine (30.51%), crafts (53.34%), and trade (43.54%). The most commonly used species in the cliff are Borassus aethiopum (100%) and Mangifera indica (100%) in the diet, Isoberlinia doka (68.17%) as firewood, Khaya senegalensis (63.50%) in the medicine, Piliostigma thonningii (100%) for artisanal use and edible NTFP (40, 63%) in the trade. Faced with this exploitation of the biodiversity of the vegetation of the cliff, a forest management plan has been developed in a spirit of community management based on the participatory approach which invites all actors and social partners to take part in the decision making based on consensus between the conservative trend and the local population. Keywords: Exploitation, biodiversity, sustainable management, cliff, Ngaoundéré. INTRODUCTION Forests in Central Africa and other tropical forests represent a large reservoir of biological diversity. They are important sources of income for the countries of the subregion in both the formal and informal sectors [1]. In most Congo Basin countries, logging remains the main provider of private wage employment, particularly in remote rural areas. In this sub-region of Africa, millions of people depend on forests for the daily satisfaction of their needs: timber, timber, energy, arable land, non-timber forest products, and so on [2, 3]. Most of the earth's landscapes are currently transformed by human activities to meet the socio-economic needs of the population [4]. These results in human pressure resulting in deforestation that has reached the rate of 673,000 ha per year, an annual shrinkage rate of 0.28% in the period 2000-2005 [3]. The fact that some countries continue to increase the amount of forest area devoted to production without sustainable management insurance is a threat in prospect [5]. Likewise, population growth and its corollary, the need for arable land and pastures, point a growing trend in deforestation. Because of their major importance for global biodiversity and the global carbon cycle [6, 7], tropical forest conservation has become a global issue. The issue of conservation of biodiversity and preservation of the environment has triggered a revolution in tropical countries. Many organizations promote NTFPs in Central Africa to improve forest management and contribute to raising living standards in rural areas [8]. However, the impact of the forest sector on national economies remains poorly documented to provide the deserved visibility and sustainable management of these resources. This partly explains the growing interest that economic policy guidelines give to this sector, based on a perception that the contribution of forest resources to economic growth remains marginal [9].Cameroon's forests are rich in NTFPs. However, the sector suffers from defects that may be detrimental in the long term on the sustainable management of NTFPs, namely lack of knowledge of the resource, lack of standards of rational exploitation, lack of quality products and unclear and inefficient regulations [1]. Many difficulties still hinder the ecologically and economically profitable exploitation of special products for the State and individuals. Indeed, a major obstacle to the sustainable management of tropical forests is the scarcity of knowledge about species, stand structure, history of ecosystems and their relationship to anthropogenic and climatic disturbances [10, 11]. The potential of these products, even as an indication, is not known. In the absence of inventory data, the sustainability of the exploitation of these resources Copyright @ 2019: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-NC) provided the original author and source are credited. © South Asian Research Publication, Bangladesh Journal Homepage: www.sarpublication.com/sarjbab 93 Nyasiri Jonathan et al; South Asian Res J Bio Appl Biosci; Vol-1, Iss- 4 (Dec, 2019): 93-103 in Cameroon can not be projected [12]. Forest resources, in products and services, have become increasingly sought after and existing information offers little knowledge of the extent to which these resources are being used and the ability of forests to meet growing needs in quantity and quality [13]. Forest knowledge must therefore be diversified and expanded accordingly [14. In spite of numerous works carried out especially in Adamawa the works of Tchotsoua [15, 16] on the methods of management, the conservation, the development of the savannas and the territories of Adamawa, the works of Ibrahima et al. [17] on the influence of some zoo-anthropogenic factors on the phytodiversity of the Sudano-Guinean savannahs but no research has been done on the exploitation of natural resources on the vegetation of the Ngaoundéré cliff and the methods of co-management of this cliff. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area The study area is in the district of Mbé, department of Vina. It is located 50 km from Ngaoundéré between 07°42.00' and 07°48.60' North latitude then between 013°31.80' and 013°38.40' East longitude (GPS readings). The study was conducted in seven villages (Taa-toyo, Gob-gabdo, Wack, Gop, Ndom, Karna and Tchabbal) bordering the cliff (Figure 1). Fig-1: Location map of the study area Source: Nyasiri, 2016 The climate is of the Sudano-Guinean type, mild and cool, characterized by two seasons: a rainy season of seven months (April to October) and a dry season of seven months from October to March [18]. The average rainfall varies from 1227.9 mm to 1675.8 mm. Humidity fluctuates between 64.1% and 67.6% [19]. Temperatures are rather cool with an average of 22°C. They vary between 10 and 19°C for the minima during the month of December then between 27 and 34°C for the maxima during the month of March [18]. In the Adamawa and in particular in Ngaoundéré, the vegetation consists of open shrub savannas with the presence of species such as Adansonia digitata, Zizyphus mauritiana, Vitex doniana, Annona senegalensis, Piliostigma thonningii, Entada africana from the lateral passage of the forest dense with graminaceous and grass savannah composed of species such as Manihot esculenta, Cassia javanica, Annona squamosa, Hibiscus esculentus, Hibiscus sabdarifa, Arachis hypogaea, Pennisetum purpureum [20]. At the cliff level, vegetation is dominated by trees such as Terminalia laxiflora, Terminalia glaucescens, Isoberlinia doka, Grewia flavescens, Sarcocephalus latifolius, Pterocarpus lucens, Daniellia oliveri, Bridelia ferruginea, Annona senegalensis, Burkea africana [21-23]. In Ngaoundéré we meet the Dourou or Dii, Mboum and Baya mainly but also Massa, Kotoko, Mousgoum, Toupouri, Fulani and Moundang from the Far North of Cameroon, Bantu (Beti and Fang-Beti) arrived with the large migrations of the seventeenth century and Bamilekes and Bamouns who in the nineteenth century have infiltrated throughout the south-east of Adamawa. The development of natural resources is mainly through agriculture, cattle breeding, beekeeping and fishing [24]. A cattle breeding occupies the first place in the local economy of Adamawa [25]. In the zone in general, the agropastoral vocation explains the strong pressure exerted on the natural resources [26]. Socio-economic surveys in households The present work is based on ethnobotanical surveys complemented by direct observations in the field. In the seven villages (Taa-toyo, Gob-gabdo, Wack, Gop, Ndom, and Karna) surveys in the form of semi-structured and structured interviews were © South Asian Research Publication, Bangladesh Journal Homepage: www.sarpublication.com/sarjbab 94 Nyasiri Jonathan et al; South Asian Res J Bio Appl Biosci; Vol-1, Iss- 4 (Dec, 2019): 93-103 conducted with fifty (50) people per village. The questionnaires included identification variables of the respondents (name, forenames, age, sex, level of education, village) and questions concerning the activities carried out inside and on the periphery of the cliff, the perception that populations have forest space and their participation in the management of this area. Complementary surveys